“Here in India, comedy shows contribute to over 30% of total watch hours within the TV shows category, and in the past year comedy show viewership has shown one of fastest growth in viewership,” said Gautam Anand, director, content partnerships, YouTube APAC.

“Bringing Comedy Week to India allows us to give India’s audiences more of the content they love and discover new content that they can only enjoy on YouTube. We have also worked hard with the biggest names in the comedy in India and are excited to bring more leading Indian comedy content onto one destination on YouTube.”

Sanjiv Sharma, founder and executive chairman, O4 Digital Media, added: “Our aim is to become the No1 comedy network on YouTube. Starting with Comedy Week, we are launching ten brand new channels featuring original programming covering all genres of comedy from exclusive shows of leading stand-up comedy stars, mimicry, slapstick comedy, sketch and character comedy.”

In addition to shows from YouTube creators Jay Hind TV, TheViralFever and NH7, content will be showcased on www.youtube.com/comedyweek from premium broadcasters and film studios such as Rajshri, Eros, T-series, Shemaroo, Disney, Star, Colors, SabTV, Sri Adhikari Brothers, Telguone, MTV and Yash Raj.